The New York Knicks broke .500 after defeating the Detroit Pistons 109 to 90. New York built its lead over each of the first three quarters, cruising to victory over a lesser opponent.
The best compliment I can give this victory is that not much stood out. The Knicks made it look easy behind a defense that has been elite all season and an offense that has been rolling since Derrick Rose took over the starting point guard position.
It was a case of the usual suspects against Detroit. Julius Randle and RJ Barrett led the way for the starters. Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks did the heavy lifting for the second unit. Perhaps more importantly, the Knicks didn’t suffer a letdown after a tough fought victory the night before. Players brought the same intensity to a weaker opponent and pushed the Knicks into 4th place in the Eastern Conference. Let’s take a trip through the action.
New York Knicks starters overwhelm the Pistons
Derrick Rose: While it wasn’t quite the exclamation point of his double-double against the Pacers, Derrick Rose turned in yet another quality performance. It wasn’t far from the previous game regarding where the production came from. Rose hit some jumpers when he was open but did most of his damage on drives to the paint. He used his gravity to set up kick-outs and dimes for cutters. The former MVP also uses the attention he grabs to set up isolations for Julius Randle that are among the easiest looks New York’s star gets on any given night.
Rose played 32 minutes, dropping 14 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers. He shot 6/14 from the field, 2/3 from three, and 0/1 from the free-throw line. It was a game with all the qualities of a second game in as many nights. The starting point guard came out a step behind his prior performance but still provided quality minutes for as long as he was out there.
It’s impressive to see the evolution of Derrick Rose’s game in the years between his stints as a New York Knick. He moves the ball far better than last time and has an improved jumper to boot. Last time we watched him in the midst of legal issues and distractions. Now we’re seeing maturity and leadership from Rose. He’s also developing quick chemistry with Randle, possibly the most important aspect of all. D. Rose gets a 2.5 out of 5 for the solid performance.
Reggie Bullock: The Knicks 3 and D starter had himself a nice bounce back from his hesitant shooting against the Pacers. Reggie Bullock let it rip and knocked out every three pointer he took. While his midrange jumper didn’t drop, Bullock did pick up some dimes and boards when he wasn’t stretching the floor. That meant that Reggie was flat out productive rather than relying on intangibles or subtleties.
Bullock only needed 22 minutes to add 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 turnover. He produced on 3/5 shooting and 3/3 from three. I often point out that Bullock’s at his best when the rest of the Knicks offense allows him to take what the defense gives him. We’ve seen Reggie pass up even his good looks, so it was nice to see the wing shoot when he had space.
The difference felt like confidence in this one. Bullock wasn’t discouraged by late closeouts, which meant fewer pump fakes or stagnant possessions. We got to watch the 3 and D wing actually add some 3’s. He’s still not exactly a box score darling, but this is a good night for a glue piece. Bullock comes away with a 2.5 out of 5 for his performance.
RJ Barrett: I can’t remember if it was after his first or second three-pointer in the first quarter against the Pistons…RJ Barrett caught a pass that was slightly off-center, reset his grip, and knocked down the three. It was how he patiently set himself and drained the shot that let me know he was locked in. Barrett didn’t need a ton of attempts to put up big production. When his jumper is locked in, RJ becomes a “pick your poison” attacker. The defense can only take away so much, and Barrett has the tools to answer any look. He shoots in space, drives past closeouts, and has improved at hitting cutters when his slashing draws a crowd.
The Maple Mamba put up 21 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal, a block, and a turnover in 35 minutes. He shot 8/13 from the field, 2/4 from three, and 3/3 from the charity stripe. Everything he provided was economical; nothing felt forced. It’s easy to forget that he’s just a 20-year-old sophomore in this league. Barrett’s physical maturity is beyond his years, so is his mental game in many ways. When the youngster makes his proper reads, he has every tool to punish a defense no matter what they throw at him.
I wouldn’t blame someone for pulling up the year-over-year statistics and sleeping on how big a leap RJ has taken. The prospect put up good numbers on shoddy efficiency last season. But it’s the uptick in efficiency that speaks most to Barrett’s leap this season. He’s playing with a level of poise and patience that speaks to his growth. We got a perfect display of this against the Pistons. The gem of a performance grabs a 3.5 out of 5.
Julius Randle: Julius Randle’s game will come back down to Earth when Bobby Shmurda’s hat does. The Knicks’ star was brilliant again, doing all of the things that have made him an Allstar. Randle led New York in three-point makes, again. He scored seemingly at will while being mindful of open teammates, again. And he played quality defense, again…that’s right, Julius Randle is starting to put together a consistent track record of good defensive play. He’s no Mitchell Robinson, but Randle’s clearly locked in. His effort doesn’t wane when the ball’s not in hand.
The big man played for 38 minutes, pouring on 25 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and 1 turnover. He shot a super-efficient 10/18 from the floor, 3/6 from three, and 2/3 from the line. He’s not reinventing the wheel with each performance. If you’ve watched this season, then you know what to expect. Randle makes legitimate point forward plays, calling out sets than finding his shooters on the wings. His midrange game is unstoppable with space. He is coming a legit stretch-four. At this point, the question is, what can’t he do?
Another game, another Allstar caliber performance for Julius Randle. I do think it’s worth noting, as Clyde did during the game, that Randle’s defensive intensity is through the roof right now. Maybe the recognition is breathing life into his legs because the big man has not let up and shows no signs of slowing down. Even a day after battling with Sabonis, Randle had his way with the Pistons defense. For another monster night, Julius Randle gets a 4 out of 5.
Nerlens Noel: With the Knicks out of back-up centers, Nerlens Noel has been forced to play huge minutes. The big man ran for 81 minutes in about 24-hours, anchoring a Knicks defense that continues to be brilliant. Noel deserves the highest praise for stepping up after Mitchell Robinsons injury. As usual, Noel’s best moments came in rim protection. He also had spots of quality rim running and finishing.
Noel put together an 8 point, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 2 turnover performance. He was rocking for 40 minutes one night after playing for 41. The numbers reflect the eye test. The shot blocker never slowed down or let up. He blocked a couple more dunk attempts in the process, to the disappointment of poster manufacturers everywhere. The big man has been good. That’s all there is to it.
This might be a good time to mention that Noel is developing more rapport with his teammates. RJ Barrett is making more frequent connections with the big man for assists. Derrick Rose is whipping fewer passes that bounce off Noel’s hands, although it still happens periodically. Noel has settled into the starting role and covered for Mitchell Robinson in fantastic fashion. The defense hasn’t lost a step. Noel’s impact score is a 3 out of 5 for this one.
Second unit makes do with their time
Immanuel Quickley: It was a shorter night than I’d hoped for from Immanuel Quickley, but he managed to make good use of his minutes. Quickley operated a bit more inside the arc with mixed results on his floater. A timely three-pointer and a bit of help from the refs for free throws boosted IQ’s scoring production. He didn’t have the explosive night that he’s capable of, but that was at least partially because Alec Burks had the ball in his hands more often than normal…more on that shortly.
Quickley played for just 16 minutes and managed 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 turnover in that span. He shot 4/9 from the field, 1/2 from three, and 3/3 on free throws. The game didn’t come as easily to IQ as it sometimes appears to. I think part of that was the mix and match nature of the second unit. The rookie combined with Burks to give just enough punch for the second unit to stay afloat.
This wasn’t quite rookie of the year Quickley, but it was still a quality performance. IQ hit his shots and continues to play a mature brand of ball. His only forces come when he’s looking for a whistle, and Quickley gets the call more often than not. The second unit didn’t have that humming rhythm from recent games, and that may be why Thibodeau cut their minutes. Either way, Quickley’s play warrants a 2 out of 5, solid for a back-up.
Frank Ntilikina: The ebbs and flows of Frank Ntilikina’s game are well documented. He only got 13 minutes of action in this one, and almost goose egged the box score. Frank tallied just 1 steal and 1 turnover while going 0/4 from the field and 0/2 from three. On the bright side, his defense was still in top shape. He took shots when they were available but didn’t cash anything.
No impact score since Frank’s game falls below the 15-minute threshold. His defense is good enough to warrant minutes on a nightly basis, but he’ll still need to add some kind of production to stick out there. I’d have liked to see Frank take a couple of extra opportunities to create. He got the ball ahead of his offense a couple of times and held until Quickley arrived rather than pushing to attack. He has to aim to make his mark more aggressively.
Alec Burks: Alec Burks gave me Elfrid Payton vibes against the Pistons in a strange way. He had a good game and didn’t do much wrong, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was at the expense of others. The difference, in this case, is that I felt like it was his teammates deferring too much rather than Burks playing greedy. They did that because the scoring guard was in his bag, scoring often and adding periodic playmaking to boot.
With 26 minutes of action, Burks dropped 16 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He hit on 7/13 tries and 2/5 three-pointers. This was an efficient night across the board. We’ve gotten hints of the dynamic version of Alec Burks in two of the past three games. This time, it felt like the Knicks second unit tried to rely too heavily on his hot hand, which made for a few scattered possessions that were stagnant.
Don’t let me blame the second unit looking a bit flat on Alec Burks’ success. He’s the reason the bench was able to score meaningful points. The rest of the bench combined to match Alec’s scoring output of 16 points. This is the player we need, but now Thibs and the bench pieces need to figure out the best way to gel that versatile attack with the rest of the pieces. Burks finishes with a 2.5 out of 5 on impact.
Obi Toppin: With the Knicks’ bigs injured, we got to see some extended burn for Obi Toppin. He still had a muted role in the offense, but the rookie saw some additional touches and gave us some interesting looks. Instead of settling for long jumpers in space, Toppin sometimes used the extra step to generate momentum into a post-up or move across the lane. That allowed him to use his leaping and finishing ability to get a couple of nice results. He’s also our best player at making backdoor cuts along the baseline already.
With 19 minutes of action, Toppin added 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 2/5 from the field and 0/1 from the free-throw line. There are hints of his post-game and interior scoring, but he never gets enough looks to really show out. He did get some extra touches in this one. He simply failed to capitalize. That’s not a shocker when extended time and looks are so rare for the rookie.
Toppin finally gets enough minutes for an impact grade. Unfortunately, he had a quiet night. I’d be remiss not to mention that we got a very brief look at an Obi/Randle tandem early on. The two players didn’t do much working off one another, and the interior defense slipped. They would need a lot more time to see if things can gel and work, but it was notable. Obi’s quiet night leaves a 1.5 out of 5 score, but flashes of promise continue to appear.
Knicks continue to roll but with a heavy burden on the starters legs
Tom Thibodeau: Let’s not bury the lead. Tom Thibodeau left his starters in to close a blowout. I don’t care to rationalize it – he should have gotten his bench more minutes. The Knicks were up by around 20 points throughout the fourth quarter, yet Thibs never found extra time for the young guys on the bench. More importantly, he didn’t find time to rest Randle, Barrett, Rose, or Noel. Those guys had just been through a battle with Indiana, and I think they deserved the rest. Had any starter gotten hurt in those last five minutes against Detroit, we’d all be at Thibodeau’s throat for the mistake.
Okay, the obvious complaint out of the way, I want to give a compliment as well. The night after a hard-fought win and with players that HAD to be tired, Tom Thibodeau got a truly inspired effort out of everybody. The Knicks’ defensive rotations were absolutely beautiful at times. There’s something thoroughly enjoyable about watching opponents forced to pump fake and pass until the shot clock is down to milliseconds.
This game was in hand before the first half was up. The Pistons made a couple of pushes, but it never felt threatening. RJ Barrett and Julius Randle were scoring too easily to worry. Burks, IQ, and Rose were not far behind. It’s the intensity that stands out and makes me reward Thibodeau a 3 out of 5. This situation was ripe for a trap game. You get a big win hangover, a late-night flight, and a hungry opponent all at once. The Knicks never batted an eye. They took care of business. I wouldn’t be able to complain about Thibs leaving his starters in too long if the Knicks hadn’t put the game away with a splendid effort.
Closing Thoughts: In case you were wondering, the Knicks have been above .500 at this point in this season just three times over the last two decades. They’re on pace for their best season since winning the division in the 2012-13 season. Shout out to Mike Woodson for always being around when the good stuff happens. I bring this all up because I’m used to the rug being pulled out from under me as soon as good vibes start.
Melo and KP took turns with injuries. Jeremy Lin got hurt, then got paid to play elsewhere. Landry Fields…Nah, just kidding, but remember how hype his rookie season had us? Anyway, I’m not used to having nice things. I think that’s why I freak out over the starters’ minutes and even when opponents go on mini-runs. We’re used to things going South. This new front office and coaching staff have already earned more faith and patience. When things started to slip, they delivered with Derrick Rose. We all stressed about it, but it has worked out tremendously so far. IQ was supposed to be a reach until we saw him in a Knick uniform.
We’re Knicks fans; doubts and second-guessing have been etched into our existence. We don’t get nice things. We never move up in the draft. Stars use us to get more money elsewhere. Draft picks bust or leave.
But the vibe has been different all year long. I’ve been saying as much since the early recaps this season. This team and this management group have given us plenty of reasons to smile, and our doubts are lingering from nightmares in the rearview window. If the Knicks can beat the Spurs, we’ll be looking at an All-Star break with a winning record. No one saw this coming. As much as I sweat the small stuff, this season feels like truly a step in a brand new direction.
